Officials with Oriden, the industry behind the Dogwood Corners solar and storage energy project, held a public forum Thursday night where members of the Dogwood community were able to ask questions and express their concerns.
The proposed site would be alongside Dogwood Kelly, Goode and Greenville Roads and take up approximately 638 acres of land and Seth Wilmore with Oriden detailed the function of the energy storage project, saying that while there’s really little impact in the way of job creation, but it would generate roughly $2.2 million in tax revenue in Christian County.
He says once the site is up and running, the solar energy panel and storage facility will almost entirely operate on its own but there is a lengthy approval process with the actual construction not set to begin until sometime in 2025 with a completion date possibly in 2026.
He says they’re ready to work with local land and homeowners on how to best mitigate any interruptions to their daily life, including planting vegetation and building fences for safety.
Around 50 people attended Thursday and most of those were against the project, with several questioning why this area was selected to start with and saying they feel left out of the decision making process. Ken Tucker says he doesn’t trust how secretive the project has been so far and says it will also negatively impact local agriculture.
Krystal Kirkman says she’s worried about possible health hazards and that it will lower their property values in the future.
Citizens say things have been done in the wrong order and this forum was the more information they have received about the project, even though land agreements, site studies and other actions began in 2020. No one spoke in favor of the project at the public forum.
